Light in the Darkness
by swimmergirl17
Summary: A field hockey team in Atlanta struggles to survive in the new world that the apocalypse has left them in. The only light in the darkness is that they have each other. Rated T for language.
1. Calm before the storm

Light in the Darkness- Walking Dead Fan Fiction

A field hockey team in Atlanta struggles to survive in the new world that the apocalypse has left them in. The only light in the darkness is that they have each other.

Ch. 1 Calm before the storm

The playing fields on the Georgia State campus were unusually quiet. Where there were usually clusters of die-hard fans, there were instead pieces of litter rolling over the grandstands, pushed by the wind in every direction.

The silence was broken by the sound of tramping feet, and the rattle of wooden hockey sticks. Onto one of the bigger fields marched ten figures, varied in stature. The figures paused, and began to put on their gear. Their coach began to speak to them.

"Let's hurry up with your gear, Y'all. We need to try to practice a little before it's rained out."

Coach Alfred Peterson, or Coach Freddie, as he was known by his team, was a short, muscular man of about 25. He had been one of GSU's best field hockey players, until the accident. He was hit head on by a drunk driver, and barely made it out with his life. After he recovered, his doctors told him he could never play again. However, the second best thing to playing was coaching. He had coached the Atlanta Elite co-ed field hockey team for three years. This year, they were doing very well. The Elite had just played the semifinal game and won. Now, they were training hard for the State title.

"Let's go!" he called, and his team ran out onto the field. The moment the team began to practice, it started to rain.

"Coach, it's raining!" shouted Colette McGuire. Colette, who went by Col, was the star of the team. Her twin sister, Emily, was also a key player. They both had the same long, dark hair and pale skin, and the same sense of humor. However, Emily was the quieter of the two, and she knew when it was the right time to keep her mouth shut. Col, not so much.

"No kidding, Col?" retorted Stevie Harrison. Stevie was tall and lanky, with cropped blond hair. He was very sarcastic, and his sarcasm was taken the wrong way quite a bit.

Freddie swore under his breath.

"Looks like we're just stretching today, everyone. Under the bleachers, now!" he yelled.

The team gathered the rest of their gear and headed for the bleachers.

Rhea Theotokis was a short, tanned girl from a large Greek family. She was quite foulmouthed, and she also had a short temper.

Jackson Carter, who went by Jack, had just moved to Atlanta from South Carolina. He was of a medium build, calm, and had a mechanical mind.

Hunter Evanston was the team's goalie. He towered over everyone else on the team; he was 6'1, with a kind personality to match. His teammates sometimes called him the 'gentle giant'.

Max Hayes was the brains of the group. He was smaller than everyone else on the team, but he was an excellent runner.

Jason Bell was the second tallest; he was also an ice hockey player. He was very aggressive, and a very good offensive player.

Finally, Amelie Campbell ended the pack. She was very good at rallying the team together during tough games, and she had shoulder-length blond hair.

" Does anyone else think that it's too quiet?" asked Max.

" Yeah, I haven't heard anybody else but us since we got out here. It's pretty weird." agreed Jack. "There are other teams that practice out here."

"They probably got rained out, too." said Rhea, pushing towards the front of the group, elbowing Jason as she brushed by.

"Hey!" he yelled, and together, they sprinted towards the bleachers.

"Those two," said Freddie, amused, "They are going to end up getting in trouble someday."

Suddenly, a scream came from the back of the group. The entire team did an about face, sticks in hand. Amelie pointed a shaky hand towards the trees surrounding the field. Emerging from the trees were some kind of human-like figures- _but they were definitely not human._ A faint groaning noise and the shuffle of feet broke the quiet that had surrounded them previously.

The only thought that crossed their minds was to run.


	2. Flight

Author's Note:

Hello to my readers! Thank you for your reviews, they really help me get motivated to continue the story! If you see any errors in my work, please let me know, because I know when _I_ read a fanfic, it's really hard to enjoy when there are errors. This chapter is pretty dramatic, so let me know what you think!

Ch. 2 Flight

Being the fastest runner, Max led the group. Wide-eyed and terrified, they didn't stop until they reached the locker rooms. No longer caring about anything but their lives, they all rushed into the women's locker room.

"We should check for more of those things in here," Rhea said shakily. "What the hell were they, anyway?"

"Listen, guys." Hunter said, turning on the small radio.

For a second, all they heard was static. But then, a crackly voice began giving safety instructions.

"Travel to shelter immediately. Do not try to approach the infected. If you have been scratched or bitten, report to the nearest emergency center. Prepare to evacuate."

"Infected?" asked Col. "What are they infected _with_?"

"I don't know." responded Freddie. "I'll try to get in touch with your parents. They'll come pick you up. Meanwhile, we'll stay here."

"Sounds like a plan." said Jason, who was sitting crossed-legged on the floor. "So, those things we were running from… they were infected?"

"I guess so." Freddie said.

"I can't believe this is actually happening." Amelie whispered. "This only happens in movies."

"Well, this isn't a movie. This is real." Freddie said grimly.

Stevie walked over to one of the windows and peered out into the rain.

"I don't see anything. The infected probably didn't see us." He said.

"Gosh, I'm so glad Caroline and John weren't here today, they're probably safe somewhere." Emily said quietly.

Freddie called nine sets of parents, with no response.

"I've got some bad news, everyone. I couldn't get to any of your parents." Freddie said, while mentally formulating a plan to get away from the fields.

"We have to get out of here. Like now." said Col. "if we stay here any longer, those things might come back."

"I agree." said Freddie. "I have a plan to get us out of here."

Five minutes later, the whole team streamed out the back door of the locker room, wielding hockey sticks as weapons. At this point, it had stopped raining, but the sky still looked threatening.

"Remember, aim to injure, not to kill. These things are people, and they can be cured." Freddie said.

They separated into two groups of threes, and one group of four, and went off in three different directions to reach the team van in the parking lot. Freddie had decided that smaller groups were safer than one large group. Amelie, Jason and Max were the first back to the van. They crouched low to the ground and scanned their surroundings. Clear. They stood up, and watched and waited for the others. Jack, Rhea, and Hunter were next. Blood on Jack's hockey stick meant that they weren't alone.

"Where are the others?" asked Max. "Did you see them?"

"Not since we left the locker room." Rhea responded, not taking her eyes off the trees.

" Wait, look over there." Hunter said, pointing towards the concession stand. There were three figures there, one supported by the other two. Behind them was a slowly moving, loosely-formed pack of the things. And they were getting closer every minute.

The stragglers reached the van very slowly.

"Weren't there four of you?" asked Jack.

"No time to explain, get in NOW!" Freddie yelled. "GO, GO, GO!"

Everyone piled haphazardly into the van, slamming the door shut with such force that the whole van shook. Freddie turned the key in the ignition, but the van stalled. The things grew closer and closer to the van. Their hideous faces were soon visible, and then, they started to claw at the van. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. One wandered over to a window, and started to bang on the glass. Rhea screamed.

"Come on, baby." Freddie muttered, and turned the ignition once more. The van roared to life, and they tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

"What happened to Stevie? Is he okay?" Amelia asked frantically.

"They got him- the infected." Col said, choking back a sob. "There was one behind Emily, and she didn't see it. He attacked it, and three more came up behind him, and they bit him real bad. I wanted to go back for him, but Freddie told me not to, and Emily twisted her ankle."

The others were quiet. The infected were obviously very dangerous, but they hadn't realized they were this dangerous. _Dangerous enough to kill human beings._


	3. Clarification

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Thanks again for your feedback, you have NO idea how much it helps!

LikeCrimsonBloodshed- You will be pretty happy with this chapter… I hope ;)

By the way, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but this is my very first fanfic. Please enjoy this chapter!

Ch 3 Clarification

"_ow_!" Emily said, wincing in pain as Hunter gently prodded her ankle. The van was still moving away from the Georgia State campus at a very dangerous speed, but at the request of the injured passenger, Freddie slowed the van to a less nauseating 30 miles per hour. After about ten minutes, the van moved onto a small, unpaved road that led through a grouping of trees. At the end of the road, there was a small campground with a pavilion and bathrooms. Freddie pulled the van alongside the pavilion, and the rest of the team piled out.

"So where exactly are we?" asked Jason.

"A campground just north of Atlanta. From this spot, we can see the entire city, plus, it's very secluded." Freddie responded.

"Seems safe enough for now." Col remarked. "But we're gonna need food, water, medicine, and weapons if we're going to make it."

"Weapons? I thought the infected were curable." Max said, shaking his head. "But they did kill Stevie." He said thoughtfully.

"If we are going to survive, we need to set something straight." Jason said. "We can't just keep calling the things 'the infected'. They need some kind of name."

"Like what, zombies?" Rhea snorted.

"That's a cliché. We need something more original." Jack said.

"How about walkers? Y'know, because they walk funny." Max said.

"That sounds about right." agreed Col. "it's official, they're walkers!"

"Okay we need to go and gather supplies. Then we can formulate a better plan." Freddie said. His team was clustered around them. He couldn't help but notice how tired they looked, especially Emily, with her injury. That needed to be attended to. He made a mental not of it, then continued. " I think it's best that we all go. More hands make this a lot faster, plus, we are stopping by everyone's homes to see if your parents might be there. Does everyone agree?"

There was a chorus of 'yes sirs', and for the second time that day, everyone loaded into the van. Freddie maneuvered the van off the campground, and began taking the backroads into the suburbs.

First stop: Col and Emily's. Gripping her hockey stick tightly, Col nervously went around to the back of her house, where the key was. After momentarily struggling with the door, Col burst inside. "MOM? DAD?" she called. There was no answer. She headed upstairs to the room she and her sister shared, and began throwing clothes, toiletries, and other things like books into two duffel bags. Then, she headed to the medicine cabinet, and swept all of its contents into another bag. Finally, she went up into the attic, where the safe was. After unlocking it, she found what she was looking for: her father's military rifle, complete with a scope and ammunition. In another box, she found a cylinder that matched the metal on the gun. With a last look in the attic, she headed down the stairs, where a family photo was hanging. She paused, then grabbed the frame, and took the picture out and stuck it in her pocket. She ran back out to the van, threw her bags in, hopped inside, and slammed the door shut. The van shuddered to life, and drove away.

The other houses passed uneventfully, until they reached the final stop: Amelie's house.

"I can't go alone. It's too dangerous." She whined.

"I'll go." Max said. "if that's okay with everyone else." They all nodded feverently in agreement, and Max and Amelie hopped out of the van, and headed for the house. Amelie's house had only one floor, but it was very spread out, so Max suggested that he gather food and medicine, while she gathered clothes and weapons. She agreed, and they went off in separate directions.

Max decided to start with food first. He walked into the kitchen, and began rifling through cabinets until he found some plastic grocery bags, plastic bins, and cardboard boxes. Then, he worked his way through all of the cabinets until he reached the pantry. The pantry was like a walk-in closet; it had a door that locked, and lights inside. Max grabbed a box and reached for the door handle. He opened the door, and flicked on the light switch. He saw a can of soup on one of the bottom shelves, and he bent down to reach it. He began to stand, but suddenly, from close behind him, he heard one low, unmistakable moan. The moan of a walker.

Author's Note:

Hoped you liked it! I probably won't post another chapter until Sunday, so have fun with this cliffhanger!


	4. Soup

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I hope you liked the last chapter, even though it was a bit of a cliffhanger ;). Has anyone else been watching TWD marathon on AMC? I've been sooo pumped about it! I hope you like _this _chapter!

Ch 4 Soup

Max froze for a moment as the walker groaned. Then suddenly, Max gripped the can of soup that he had been reaching for and slammed it against the walker's head. It fell to the ground with a shower of blood. Max quickly reached out the door with one eye on the now incapacitated walker and the other on his hockey stick. He slammed the handle of the hockey stick onto the head of the walker, which split it like an overripe melon. He stood up, panting, and then dropped the hockey stick and quickly got back to work.

During the struggle, Amelie had finished collecting her supplies and come into the kitchen. She walked up behind Max and gently tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, another can of soup in hand. She recoiled, saying "What the hell, Max, it's just me." She saw the walker, and said "oh."

"Yeah." Max responded. "Let's get out of here."

Freddie drove the van back to the campsite. There, the team went through the contents of their boxes and bags.

"Who packed the freakin' DVD player?" Rhea said, irritated at said person's frivolity.

"Here's an Ace bandage, we can wrap Em's foot in it!" Hunter said excitedly, and stopped what he was doing to go care for her injured ankle.

"He's got a real soft spot for the injured." said Jack, shaking his head. "I found some pocket knives."

" Listen up, everyone!" Freddie called. "It looks like we need more food and medicine. We need to assemble a team to head out there, make a few stops. Any volunteers?"

"I'll go." Jason said, and immediately walked away.

"Me too." Max said. "We should probably take Rhea. She knows what we'll need."

"Okay." Freddie said. "We have a team."

Author's Note: Pretty cool chapter, huh? I'll try to post another Monday!


	5. Overpass

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Sorry I posted this chapter so late, I encountered a bit of writer's block today . I hope y'all like it!

Ch 5 Overpass

"Van's loaded!" Jason called. "We've got as many weapons as we can spare right now."

Freddie had decided to leave all but one of the guns at camp; this was because he secretly didn't trust Jason or Rhea with a gun. He shouldered the rifle taken from Jack's house and hopped into the driver's seat of the van. Max and Emily were dawdling by one of the picnic tables.

"Max, let's go!" Freddie yelled.

"Be safe, Max." Emily whispered, and in a bold move, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. They both colored instantly, and Emily walked away, embarrassed. Max was a little taken aback, and he stopped for a second before getting into the van.

"I will, Emily." He said. He slammed the door, and the van pulled away from the campground.

"I think there's a shopping center right off this exit." Rhea said, pointing to the left. "It's got a grocery store, a pharmacy, a few clothes shops, and a bakery."

"Wait, isn't this considered looting?" Max asked.

"Not if you need the stuff to survive, genius." Jason said.

"It's not really looting, Max." Freddie said. "Here's the shopping center."

He turned the van into a large shopping center.

"Okay, once we leave this van, we separate into pairs. Max and I will get food, and Jason, you and Rhea can get medicine and bandages from the pharmacy. Sound like a plan?" He said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's distribute weapons. Jason, this baseball bat is for you. Rhea, how 'bout a knife? And Max, you can have this pocketknife. Does everyone remember the plan?" Freddie said nervously.

"Yeah, it's so simple, even Rhea can get it." Jason said jokingly.

"Shut up!" Rhea said, annoyed.

"Okay, let's get to work." Freddie said, and they parted ways.

A half hour later, they met back at the van, arms filled with supplies.

"We've got another load, we'll be right back." Max said. He walked back to the front of the grocery store, and started to load parcels into his arms.

"Hey, can you give me a hand, J?" Rhea said. "I'm a little tired."

"Nah, I think you'll be able to do it." Jason said lazily.

"Ain't you helpful." She said, now annoyed.

During this dialogue, Freddie had walked up with more packages, and now, he was fidgeting impatiently.

"SHUT UP AND PUT THE DAMN PACKAGES IN THE VAN!" He screeched. He was answered by some very quiet 'yes sirs'.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Max said.

Freddie pulled the van back onto the highway, driving north back to the campground.

"What's that, up there?" Max said, panicked.

Freddie pulled the van closer to the mass that Max had pointed out.

"They're cars." whispered Jason.

"But where are all the drivers?" Rhea said.

"Um, guys?" Max gulped. "I think I found the drivers."

Author's Note: I probably won't post again until Wednesday. Hoped you liked it!


	6. Dozen

Author's Note:

Hey everybody! I want to thank you again for your reviews; they're really helpful! I hope you like this chapter, and I'll try to post tomorrow. Hope you like it!

Ch 6 Dozen

All of the van's occupants turned slowly around to the direction Max was staring at in horror. Advancing slowly in a loosely-formed pack were about a dozen walkers. And they looked hungry.

"We can't get out of this jam!" Freddie yelped. "We're gonna have to fight them off. Get out and onto the roof, quick!"

They all scrambled out of the van and boosted each other onto the roof, clutching their assorted weapons. On the way out, Rhea had grabbed another baseball bat, and Max had his hockey stick.

"We can beat them up a bit, and Freddie can shoot 'em." Jason said. "How many rounds you got?" he asked.

Freddie took a second to check.

"Six." He said.

"That's not good." Max said. "Looks like we're gonna have to take some out, too."

Back at camp, Hunter was tending to Emily's ankle while Jack, Col, and Amelie sorted supplies.

"OW!" Emily screeched.

"Sorry Em." Hunter said. "But you gotta keep the screeching to a minimum, okay?"

She nodded in agreement, now gritting her teeth.

"Jack, it looks like we have five rifles, two pistols, and one shotgun, all with plenty of ammunition." Col called. "We also have six baseball bats here, and they took two with them, so that makes eight of those. We have twenty-two knives here, and a ton of hockey sticks. We got Stevie's stick right before…" she trailed off. She had secretly liked him before all of _this _happened. And she missed him more than she cared to admit.

"We have a ton of soup, plenty of Ramen noodles, and for some reason, 4 boxes of Oreos." Amelie said from behind Jack. "But there's enough food for a long time here."

"I wonder what's keeping them?" Hunter said. "They should be back by now."

"We shouldn't worry. They'll be back soon." Emily said, staring at her now bound ankle. "Thanks."

Back on the overpass, four walkers had already been taken down, and Freddie was now out of ammo. He had accidentally shot one in the chest, and missed another one's brain by inches. Max was busy beating the brains out of one particularly vicious walker; it was extending its bloody, mangled fingers out to scratch him. Jason reached over his shoulder and beat the fingers off the walker's hand.

"Thanks, man." Max said breathlessly, and went on to the next walker, a female with no left arm.

"Max, pass me one of the knives!" Freddie bellowed.

"You got it!" he yelled back, and passed over a long boning knife. Freddie promptly turned around, bent over, and stabbed a tall male walker in the back of its skull.

Suddenly, Rhea let out a blood-curdling scream. A walker was latched onto her arm. Fresh, warm blood spurted onto the roof of the van.

"NO!" Jason bellowed. He reached over, and with one mighty blow, he knocked the walker's head clean off. Then, he bent down to tend to Rhea, who was already paling.

"NO, NO, NO! Rhea, we gotta get you back to camp now, and get some water and alcohol onto your arm. Then, we can stitch you up, and you'll be just fine! Okay?" he said frantically, voice cracking.

"Forget about me." Rhea whispered weakly. "Just get rid of those damn walkers."

"She's right!" Freddie yelled. "There are only two left! Concentrate _for her_, Jason!"

With a look of pure fury, Jason stretched up to full height, raised the bat over his head like an axe, and smashed right through one of the walker's heads. Then, with a sudden movement, he hit the second walker's head off as cleanly as if it had been a golf ball on a tee.

"Let's go." He said coolly.

Freddie looked down, and motioned for the others that it was okay. Freddie and Max dropped from the roof of the van. Jason was next.

"Rhea." He said softly. "Slide over here, and I'll grab you, okay?"

"Okay." She said. "Just don't treat me like I'm five freakin' years old, comprende?" she scooted over to where Jason was, and wincing, she slid into his arms. He carefully lowered her into one of the van's seats, and slid in beside her. He reached over and slammed the door.

"Drive." He commanded.

Freddie maneuvered the van around, and sometimes into, the abandoned cars. Some of the cars were overturned, with their windows smashed. Others still had occupants with huge chunks of their bodies missing. Rhea's head was resting on the window, and Jason was like a statue with his eyes on her.

"We're through." Freddie said, after he bumped past the last car. "The camp is only ten minutes from here."

"Well drive fast then." Jason growled. He turned his attention back to Rhea.

"Jason, before I die..."

"Don't say that!" He barked. "you're gonna be just fine."

"J, listen to me. Don't push everyone away. They can help you, and you can help them. Okay?"

"Rhea, I never got the chance to say this, but I love you. You're always there for me, and I want to thank you for that."

There was silence for a moment.

" I love you too, Jason. Remember what I said, and be strong. For me. For everyone. You have what it takes to survive. And don't forget about me."

Rhea's breathing slowed, and finally stopped.

"NO! RHEA!" Jason cried. "RHEA! Rhea…" he started to sob into her hair. "Rhea…"

Freddie had the tact to stop the van and pull over.

"We've gotta give her a funeral." Jason choked. "But nothin' fancy, she wouldn't have wanted that." He said quietly.

"There are some trees over there." Max suggested. "They aren't too fancy."

"It's perfect." Jason whispered.

Freddie, Max, and Jason, who was carrying Rhea, began the short walk over to the trees. Jason laid her body on the ground, crossing her hands over her chest. He swept one had over her eyes, to close them, and kissed her forehead.

"Goodbye, Rhea." Jason whispered as they left the clearing. He looked at her one last time, and he could have sworn he saw her wink.

Author's Note: This chapter is pretty long, huh? I hope you liked it, though!


	7. Survivor's guilt

Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a week- I've been realllllllllly busy . I hope you like this chapter, and I appreciate your reviews!

Ch. 7 Survivor's guilt

Freddie turned the van onto the dirt road leading to the camp. Max was in the passenger seat, turned around to face Jason, who's tear-stained face was void of emotion. Max sighed, and turned around to face forward again.

As the van pulled towards the pavilion, the four people working there dropped what they were doing and raced toward the van.

"Oh my God, you're okay!" Amelie sighed in relief. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah." Max said wearily. He sighed, and pulled open the back doors of the van.

"Wait, where's Rhea?" Col asked.

"She's dead." Jason said blankly, exiting the van. "I'm gonna be over there." He said, walking towards the trees surrounding the pavilion.

"Oh my goodness." Emily whispered. " I feel awful. I'm gonna try to go talk to him." She said, turning towards the pavilion and walking briskly toward where Jason was slumping.

" She's gonna get nothin' from him." Hunter said, shaking his head.

" It's worth a shot, though." Freddie said. "We all need to work more on being team players."

Hunter, Col, Amelie, Max, Emily, and Freddie started to lift the crates and boxes of supplies out of the van. They had scavenged about 40 more cans, some boxed foods, and plenty of painkillers and antibiotics. Max had discovered a huge roll of gauze, the best find.

After they had finished sorting all of the items under the pavilion, Freddie cleared off a table and asked everyone (except Emily and Jason) to sit down. He produced a map and pens from his back pocket.

"Okay." He said. " We need to figure out where we're gonna go, because we can't stay here forever."

"We can't go to the city." Hunter said. "It's not safe, because as far as we know, it's filled with walkers."

"The burbs?" Amelie suggested.

"Not safe." Max said. "We found walkers in the homes there."

" We need to go somewhere that has a smaller population. So that means that we need to stay away from the city and the burbs." Col said.

" We could shoot for somewhere southwest of Atlanta." Freddie said, pointing at a group of towns on the map. "But we need to stay here for a few days to sort things out and maybe make a few more runs. We need more survival gear."

"Works for me."Amelie said, nodding.

"Jason!" Emily called, walking over to the tree he was leaning on. " I wanna talk to you."

"What do you want?" He asked gruffly.

" I want to know if you're okay." She said.

" I'm fine, okay?" He said.

" No, you're not. Don't lie to me." She said. "Just because you're a boy, it doesn't mean you always have to be the tough one, okay? You can tell me anything." She said.

Jason fell silent for a minute, but Emily didn't move. She was standing there, with her arms crossed over her chest, and her hair blowing in the breeze.

" I couldn't do anything for her." Jason whispered to the ground. "I couldn't help her." He looked up at Emily.

"I COULD HAVE SAVED HER!" He screamed.

"It's not your fault." Emily said soothingly. " If you could have done anything, she would have told you so. Don't blame yourself. You're not guilty, so you don't have to live with that. You have to live FOR HER, Jason!" Emily paused, searching for the right words.

"Remember, you can talk to me whenever you need to, okay. I'm always here."

Author's Note: There is a possible romance here. ;) Tell me what you think!


	8. Watch

Author's Note: Hey everybody! I hope you liked the last chapter, and thanks again for your reviews! I hope you like this chapter and the ones to follow!

Ch 8 Watch

The sky grew darker above the campsite as the afternoon went on. At about 7:00, Hunter lit up one of the grills that was near the pavilion.

" Col, can you go get some wood please?" Freddie asked.

"Sure." She responded. She walked over to one of the bins and grabbed a knife and a flashlight. Flipping on the flashlight, she turned and began walking towards the trees.

"Freddie!" Max called.

"What's up, Max?" He asked. Max ran over to him.

" I think that we ought to set up a rotating night watch. It would be really bad if we got surprised while we sleep, y'know?" He said. " It should be two people at a time, but you should probably make up the schedule."

"That's an excellent idea." Freddie said. "We can switch off every two hours, and we should probably have two guns, because they work at a longer distance."

"Okay, great." Max said, walking back to where he had been sorting cans.

Jason was sitting at the edge of the pavilion near the grill with Hunter. He had a small knife and a large pile of sticks that he was sharpening.

"What are you gonna do with those?" Hunter asked.

" They can be arrows or spears." Jason said quietly.

" I can help you out with those." Hunter said. He pulled a knife from his pocket, and, sitting down, he took half of the sticks and began to carve.

"Thanks." Jason said. " I appreciate it."

"Amelie, where are all of the medical supplies?" Emily asked.

"Try the green crate." Amelie suggested.

Emily walked over to the crate, and began to pull out the supplies to sort.

"There are five more bins where that came from." Amelie said, looking up for a moment.

"Gotcha." Emily said.

"How's Jason holding up?" Amelie asked.

"Oh, he's okay." Emily said. "I'm gonna help him get through this."

"Good for you!" Amelie said, turning back to her work.

"Yeah." Emily said softly.

"Listen up, everybody!" Freddie called. "We're gonna start watch groups at about 10:00. I'll put you in pairs. First watch is going to be Col and Hunter. Then, two hours after them, we'll have Jason and Emily. Max, you can go with Amelie. I can work last watch solo. Is that okay with everyone?" he said. Everyone nodded.

"Hunter, tell Col she's on watch with you when you get back." Freddie said.

"Got it." Hunter said.

At 9:55, Freddie beckoned Col and Hunter over to the pavilion.

"You each have to take a gun. It'l help you out, I promise." He said.

Col took her father's rifle, and Hunter took a shotgun.

"Be safe with them, okay?" Freddie said. He received two nods, and then he climbed into the van.

"I'll go this way, you go the other way. Okay?" Hunter said, switching on his flashlight. Col nodded, and they separated.

Col walked past the pavilion, and toward the tree line. She turned about five yards from the tree line and walked slowly toward the road leading into camp. Suddenly, she heard a rustle from behind her. She whirled around, gun pointing into the trees. She shined her light into the trees, and peered in. A sudden crash from Hunter's side of camp sent her running to him. She ran past the pavilion, and came face-to-face with an angry walker.

Author's Note: Let me know what you think!


	9. Move on

Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry that my posting has been a bit sporadic- I've been busy. I hope you like this chapter, and by the way, I love writing cliffhangers. ;)

Ch 9 Move on

The walker groaned and lunged towards Col, putting its head directly in the path of her father's rifle. Col pulled the trigger and fired, blowing brain bits all over herself and the ground. Not stopping to clean up, Col continued to run to the other side of the campsite- the side that Hunter had been guarding.

" HUNTER!" she yelled. "HUNTER!"

Off to the side of the pavilion, she found Hunter crouched behind one of the low walls that surrounded the structure. He had his shotgun pointed into the trees, where a walker was emerging. Its hideous body seemed bent out of shape as it let out a low moan. Hunter pumped the shotgun, and pulled the trigger, blowing the walker to pieces.

" I'm fine, there are just a ton of walkers in the woods, and we need to get moving!" he yelled. "Go get the others, and help them load the van!"

" Got it!" Col yelled, running to the van. She flung open the van's doors, waking up its groggy passengers.

"We're under attack!" she yelled. "Pack up the stuff, and let's go!"

The people who had been sleeping moments ago had roused themselves with surprising speed, and were beginning to load the van. Col ran back over to Hunter, and fired at a walker he had missed. It fell motionless to the ground.

"Thanks!" he shouted.

"The van's packed!" Freddie yelled. "Let's go!"

After taking down one final walker, Hunter ran to the van, threw his gun inside, and jumped in, slamming the door. The tires screeched as Freddie peeled out of camp.

"Take off your shirt." Col commanded.

"What?" Hunter said.

"You heard me, off with it." Col said. "I need to check you for bites or even scratches."

Hunter reluctantly removed the item of clothing in question, and Col ran her nimble fingers over his back, chest and arms. Her fingers were very cold. Hunter made a mental note of this.

"Okay, you're good." Col said. " You can shirt up."

" We need to figure out where to go." Freddie said. "We at least need to stop somewhere for the rest of the night. And it needs to be easier to guard."

" How 'bout a house?" Emily asked. "There will be plenty of room for everyone, and it actually has walls, and beds."

"Sounds good, but we would have to break in." Max said.

"No problem." Jason said. "I can pick a lock."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be worried or relieved about that." Max answered.

"Well, if we're going to find a house, we need to find it soon." Freddie said.

"Turn off the highway here." Amelie said. "There's a housing development about a mile off the exit."

Freddie turned the van off of the exit, and drove until he reached a large sign that read 'Fleetwood Runs'. He turned into the neighborhood, and drove down a tree-lined street. That street contained larger houses. Freddie chose the largest, which was in the cul-de-sac. He pulled the van into the driveway, and he sent Jason and Max to unlock the doors and see if it was safe. Jason dug into his pocket until he found his lock tools. He crouched by the door and began to work as Max cautiously scanned their surroundings. With one final click, Jason was done. He swung the door open.

"We're in." He said.


	10. House party

Author's Note: hey everybody! I'm not certain how long I'm going to make this fanfic, but I'm thinking around 45 or 50 chapters. If you have any requests, problems, or ideas, please message me or leave a review! Hope you like this chapter!

Ch 10 House party

Max motioned to the others that it was okay to start unpacking. Jason began to cautiously enter the house, flashlight in one hand, pistol in the other. Max followed with his rifle. They searched the entire house, room by room, and found nothing. The rest of the group came inside, and set down their stuff.

"There's a widow's walk on the roof." Jason said. "That's gonna be great for guard duty."

"We'll keep the same guard schedule." Freddie said. "We'll move onto the next two, though. Col and Hunter have had enough for tonight."

"Agreed." Col said, to much laughter.

"All of the bedrooms are on the second floor." Max said. "there are four bedrooms, so we're gonna have to share."

"That's okay. Sharing feels safer." Amelie said.

The group shouldered their stuff and headed for the bedrooms. Jason and Emily had the next watch, so they climbed up to the widow's walk. Upon reaching the roof, Emily plopped down. Jason sat down next to her.

"How are you holding up?" She asked.

"I've been better." He responded. " Thanks for your advice. It's definitely helping me out."

"No problem." She said. "I'm always here."

Downstairs, Max couldn't fall asleep. Hunter was already snoring contentedly, and Freddie's chest was rising and falling like clockwork. He couldn't stop thinking about the walkers he had taken out that day. Weren't they people too? Still mulling over this, he closed his eyes. A couple hours later, he shaken awake roughly by Jason.

"It's your watch, bro." he said.

Max shook himself awake, got up, and headed up to the widow's walk. Amelie was waiting for him, rifle slung over one shoulder.

"Took long enough." She joked.

"Yeah." He said blankly.

"Okay, what's wrong?" She asked. "And don't tell me nothing's wrong, because then I'll know that you're lying."

"Well I've been wondering… are the walkers people too?" He said. "Because if they are, that means we're all murderers."

She laughed. "I think that they were people. They aren't anymore. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, I think so." He said with a smile.


	11. The Plan

Hey everybody! I've been really busy, so sorry about my very crazy posting . I hope you like this chapter!

Ch 11 The Plan

The map of Georgia was thrown out onto the kitchen table. Crossed with hundreds of tiny lined, it resembled a huge spiderweb.

"Okay." Freddie said. "We need to figure out where we are going to go, because for obvious reasons, we can't stay near Atlanta."

This last statement was greeted by dark nods from a few members of the group.

" We had said before that we should go southwest of Atlanta. There are a lot of small towns between here and Savannah, and those should be safe. Any town with a hospital will be invaluable."

Freddie received some questioning looks from the whole group.

"Wouldn't a hospital be unsafe?" Max asked. "There would be a lot of walkers who had been checked into the hospital while they were still human."

"A small town's hospital would have fewer patients, because there were fewer people who would have to be treated." Hunter said. "It would be pretty easy to clear out."

"I agree with Hunter." Freddie said. "The supplies are necessary for survival, plus, some hospitals have their own generators. The power could still be working, which means running water and heat."

"So basically, we're looking for a town in southwestern Georgia with a small hospital." Col finished.

"Exactly." Freddie said. "We also need to work on getting a second car or van, so we can split the supplies and people evenly. Plus, it will be much safer to go on a supply run, because both groups have a means of escape."

"Wait, none of us can drive." Amelie said.

"Looks like you're gonna have to learn." Jason smirked.

"I found a town!" Emily said excitedly. She poked the map. "It has a hospital, it's close to the highway, and it's pretty close to Savannah. But it's an easy drive over to Atlanta, if we need to go there."

"What's it called?" Freddie asked.

"Hinesville." She called back.

The whole group crowded around the map and looked at the town she was pointing to. It had met all of the parameters of their search, except that it was in southeast Georgia.

"I don't think it will make much of a difference, though." Freddie said, after looking at the map. "We should stay here for a few more days, gather some supplies, and head there. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Yessir." They all chimed.


	12. Errands

Note: I do not own any rights to Home Depot or Ford Motorcars.

Ch 12 Errands

"We need more of basically everything. Oh, and we need another car." Amelie said.

"We need to form groups once we get to town." Freddie said. "More pairs of eyes during a search helps you find what you're looking for faster."

"We should leave a pair of people here, to look after the supplies we already have." Max said.

"True." Freddie said. "Who wants to stay?"

He looked around the group for raised hands. None. He sighed. This situation reminded him of how his team was before all of this happened. No one wanted to carry the extra equipment, do the hard job, or even play a different position. In some ways, the team hadn't changed at all. But they had all changed in at least one way. They had all grown up. They rarely told jokes anymore, they didn't mess around, and they all listened carefully to what he had to say. This was what they were doing now.

"Okay, Jason and Emily, it looks like you're on guard duty. Try to stay inside the house as much as you can, or take turns with the widow's walk. We should be back in a few hours. Okay?" They nodded.

"Good. Everyone else, get a weapon and get into the van."

Freddie turned the van into the small town. This town had many places where supplies could be collected; there were two gas stations, a Home Depot, a grocery store, a pawn shop, various restaurants, and an entire strip mall. There was even a used car lot.

"Looks like we've got a lot of work to do." Freddie said. "Let's split up. Hunter, Col, and Amelie, you can have the righthand side of the strip mall, three restaurants, and the used car lot. Try to find a big car or an SUV. Max and I will take the other half of the strip mall, the restaurants, the pawn shop, and the gas stations. We will do the grocery store and the Home Depot together."

The group split, and Hunter, Amelie, and Col headed for the used car lot first. A tattered sign emblazoned with the words 'BIG SALE' flapped lazily in the breeze. A row of about ten cars was next to the street, and there were about twenty more behind the office.

"How about that Excursion? Col said, breaking the eerie silence. "We can fit like everything in there."

"Looks good." Hunter replied. "We just gotta get the keys from the main office."

"I'll do it." Amelie said.

She walked over to the door, and carefully pushed it open. The small bells at the top of the door jingled, and Amelie froze. She waited for a minute, and then continued to the back office. A small locked back cabinet contained all of the keys. Amelie went over the desk and rooted around until she found the key. Unlocking the cabinet, she grabbed the keys to the truck and ran out.

"Got 'em!" She called.

"Great! Now we can load up all the supplies that we get." Col said.

Amelie waited a moment to see if she was going to receive a sign of approval from Hunter. No such luck.

"Freddie, come look at this knife!" Max called. They were in the pawn shop, looking around for weapons. So far, they had found seven knives and a sword, complete with sheath.

Freddie turned to look at the knife Max was brandishing.

"That's a machete." He said. "That thing is wickedly sharp, so be careful with it, okay?"

"You got it." Max replied cheerfully.

"I'm pretty sure these are the last of them." Freddie said, turning around with two more knives. "Let's check out the gas stations."

They walked over to the van, and put the weapons in the back. Max slammed the doors shut, and ran over to the passenger side, hopping into the seat. Freddie turned the van on, and drove slowly over to the first gas station.

Back at the house, Emily was pacing the widow's walk, pondering Jason's troubles. Even though just yesterday the world had ended, he had held up until Rhea has been attacked. She wondered if he had been in love with her. They had always messed around with each other. She sighed deeply, now turning to her own troubles. She was always worried about her twin, Col, but even before the end she had been. She was worried about the whole group, but most importantly, she was worried about Jason. What if he became so depressed that he committed suicide? What if all of his pent-up rage caused him to attack someone? This thought sickened her, so she shook it off. She looked away from her feet off toward where she could still faintly see the city. The skyline reminded her of one Sunday afternoon when her father had taken her into the city.

"Em, I'm going to be deployed again." He had said. "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything for you, Daddy." She said.

"I want you to always watch over your mother and sister, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." She said.

About four months later, she stood next to her mother and sister in the pouring rain, staring at a box draped in red, white and blue. That day, she remembered her promise to her father. And from then on, she had looked after her family with an almost animalistic fierceness. Just like she had promised her father, four months before he died in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

She stared at the skyline as a single tear slid down her face.


	13. Ice

Hey everybody! That last chapter was really dramatic, so I'll be trying to top that. ;) Hope you like it!

Ch 13 Ice

The group that had gone to town had just finished up their singular missions; now, it was on to the grocery store and Home Depot.

"Home Depot first." Col said.

"Okay, Col." Freddie said. "Then we need to hurry, because it's getting late. We didn't realize it would take this long. Since Hunter can drive a little, he can follow me back to camp after we're done."

Freddie led the group towards the Home Depot parking lot. One lone walker limped toward them.

"I've got this." Max said. He sprang out of the van, and impaled the newly-found machete into its brain.

"Okay, we're looking for flashlights, lighters, camping gear, even a small grill, charcoal, lighter fluid, spray-paint, bungee cords, rope, and boxes or bags." Freddie said. "Same groups as before."

For the second time that day, the group split up.

Max wandered down an aisle that had some hatchets and axes. He yelped, and Freddie peered down the aisle.

"Good find, Max!" He said, and Max grinned. They grabbed an ax and a few hatchets and moved on.

"Hunter, look what I found!" Amelie called. Hunter looked over his shoulder from the lighters he had found at the single flashlight she had found.

"Great." He said, turning back to the flashlights. Amelie frowned.

"I've got the bungee cords." Col said, setting down a basket. "I'm going back for a hammer and nails, plus this saw I found. They should come in handy."

"Nice!" Hunter said, with a grin. "Did you find the camping stuff?"

"Yep, Aisle 5." She said. "Happy hunting!"

Amelie sighed. She was getting absolutely nowhere with Hunter. She found herself hating Col for being witty and attention-grabbing. She frowned even more widely, and went back to searching for flashlights.

After loading supplies evenly into the cars, they headed to the grocery store. The way they searched here was exactly the same way they had at every other place they had been to that day.

"Looks like the meat's still fresh." Freddie said. "There's a container with dry ice up front."

Amelie had been nearby when he said this.

"I'll get it!" She said brightly. She headed up to the front of the store. The cooler was very close to the doors, and very deep. She opened the cooler's lid and peered inside. It was almost empty. She lifted the lid off of the Styrofoam box Freddie had given her for the dry ice and placed it next to the cooler. Then, she bent over to reach for the ice in the cooler. Just as she had grabbed a block, she heard a low moan from behind her. She froze, terrified. Then, very quickly, she grabbed her knife, stood up, and turned around to face the walker. It reached for her arms as she stabbed it in the neck. It fell to the ground as she stuck the knife back in her pocket. Moving quicker now, she shoved dry ice into the box, and headed away from the walker.

After they had finished collecting supplies, they went out of the second set of doors, directly across the room from the ice cooler. Amelie suddenly realized that she had dropped her knife near the ice cooler.

"Freddie." She said.

He turned around. "Yes?"

"I dropped my knife, can I go back and get it? I'll be right out."

"Okay." He responded. "But be careful."

" I will." She said.

She walked back inside the grocery store, and back over to the ice cooler, where the walker she had stabbed lay motionless on the ground. Next to it was her knife. She bent down and reached for her knife. Her hand closed around it, and the walker that she thought she had killed bit down hard on her wrist. She screamed louder than she ever had in her whole life, and she struggled against its iron grip.

Outside, The two cars had been idling when they heard a scream from inside. Hunter and Freddie immediately sprang from their cars and sprinted inside, over to the ice cooler. They were too late. The walker was feeding on her intestines. Hunter ended it with one shot to the brain.

"Oh my God." Freddie whispered. 'It tore her apart." He turned away, disgusted. Hunter knelt next to her corpse. Her eyes were still open. He gently closed them. After looking at her for a minute, he got up and walked away, a shocked Freddie trailing behind him.


	14. Dusk

Ch 14 Dusk

From the passenger seat of the Excursion, Col peered out the window. There were only two figures approaching. She froze for a moment, then her trembling fingers freed her from her seatbelt. She fumbled over the door handle, finally opening it, and stumbled out of the van towards Hunter and Freddie.

"NO!" She shrieked. She tried to run to the grocery store's door, but Hunter caught her.

"Stop. You don't want to go in there. Trust me."

She struggled for a second, but then she collapsed in his arms, shaking with sobs. Max then exited the van, bewildered. Then, he counted the number of people.

"NO! NOT HER!" he screeched. He slammed his hands onto the side of the van, rattling it.

"We, we need to get going." Freddie said blankly, after a few minutes. Max nodded, and Hunter, with one arm around Col, walked to the Excursion. They loaded into the cars, and rode back to the house in silence.

From the widow's walk, Emily saw two cars approaching.

"J! They're back!"

She ran down the stairs, meeting Jason in the kitchen. They both ran to the door. As the cars pulled into the driveway, they cautiously opened the door and ran to meet the rest of the group. Four tired people exited the cars. Emily paused.

"Wait, where's Amelie?" Jason asked.

"She's gone." Max said hoarsely. "Walker got her."

Emily clapped two hands over her mouth and then ran to embrace her sister. Jason hung his head.

"Let's get this stuff inside." Freddie said quietly. He walked slowly into the house.

The rest of the group began to unload things from both of the cars. By the time the car was unloaded, the sky was beginning to darken. Hunter closed the door of the Excursion and trudged inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. He walked into the kitchen, where everyone else was slumped at the table. He joined them, and they sat like this for a long time.

Emily finally stood up.

"Is anyone hungry?" She asked. She received slow nods from the entire table. She carefully lit a gas burner and heated tomato soup. She walked over to the pantry and rummaged around until she found cheddar crackers. Finally, she poured six glasses of water. She set this all down at the table about twenty minutes later. Five minutes passed, and no one had touched the food except for her.

"Listen. I am so sorry that this happened to Amelie. She would have wanted us to remember her and honor her by carrying on with our lives, no matter how short or long they might be. In this world, we don't have enough time to sit around and cry over what's lost. We have to live in the now. We have to live to survive, all the while not forgetting that we are human. It's a challenge. It's the kind of challenge Amelie faced with an open heart. And that is how we can remember her. We remember her by living."

Emily stood up and left the room. When she came back twenty minutes later, all of the soup bowls were empty.


	15. On the Road

Ch 15 On the Road

"We can only get to Hinesville through the back roads. Jason and I scouted out the highway a bit already; it's completely clogged with cars." Hunter said. "It'll take two days to get there, unfortunately, because we can only travel during the day."

Two days after Amelie's death, the group was ready to go to Hinesville. The cars were being packed by Jason as Hunter spoke. Emily and Col were checking all of the rooms for leftover supplies, Max was on the widow's walk, and Freddie was with Hunter, figuring out a route. After Emily's speech, the whole group had gotten themselves together and began to plan for the journey ahead.

Max was on the widow's walk, looking over the neighborhood for any walkers. After coming up dry, he remembered his conversation with Amelie about the walkers. Then, he thought about the walker that had killed her. He paced once around the widow's walk before sitting down to cry.

"Max!" Emily called from the stairs. "It's time to go!"

He stood up, brushing the tears from his face, and walked towards the staircase. Emily was waiting for him. He brushed past her, muttering "Sorry.", and ran down the stairs. Emily sighed and followed him. She knew that Max was taking Amelie's death the hardest, but she also knew that Max could deal with his emotions. The group exited the house, and stopped to listen to the plan in front of the cars.

" We'll have three to a car." Freddie said. "I'll take the van with Jason and Emily, and Hunter's gonna drive the Excursion with Col and Max. We're stopping tonight. Does everyone get it?"

He received a chorus of yeahs.

"Let's move." Freddie said.


	16. Stars

Ch. 16 Stars

Freddie and Hunter pulled the cars out of the driveway and headed towards the road.

Col leaned her head tiredly on the passenger door behind Hunter, and was asleep in five minutes. Max was staring blankly straight ahead. Hunter sighed. This was going to be a long drive.

Emily was sitting in the passenger seat of the van next to Freddie. Jason sat in the middle of the bench seat, so he could talk to both of them.

"This town sounds great, Em." Jason said approvingly.

"Thanks, Jason." She said, turning around to look at him with a smile.

Freddie smiled. Jason was becoming a softer person.

The road ahead was flanked on both sides by trees. It only had two lanes, and from time to time it turned off onto a dirt road, possibly leading to a house or farm. The two cars crept along this quiet road, occasionally passing a walker or two. The walkers always moaned and lunged for the car, missing by a body's length every time. It became a game for Hunter. Every time one came towards the car, he slowed slightly, and then sped up. He then looked in the rearview mirror to see if it has fallen over or stayed up by defying the law of physics. By the time they stopped for the night, the number that had fallen over was well into the double digits.

Freddie suddenly put on his turn signal at about 5:30. He turned into the parking lot of a small motel. He stopped his van in front of the office. Hopping out, he walked quickly to the office, and grabbed the room keys for rooms 4 and 5. He got back into the van very quickly, and pulled the van up to the doors, labeled in peeling paint.

Col woke up.

"Where are we?" she asked, bewildered.

"We're at a motel near Macon." Hunter answered. "You slept all day."

"Freddie said that we need to get into the rooms before its dark." Max said sullenly. He got out of the van, walked around back, and opened the trunk. Hunter and Col followed him slowly.

Emily and Jason were standing outside of room 5, backpacks in hand. Freddie was grabbing some food. Col, Hunter, and Max approached the room.

"They've got connecting doors inside." Emily said. "We still have watch, but it's on the roof. There's like a deck up there. There's a ladder inside."

"That's actually pretty cool." Max said.

"Okay." Freddie said. "Hunter, take the keys to room 5, and Emily, here are room 4's."

He handed them the keys, and they carefully unlocked the doors. Max shone his flashlight into room 5. Clear. Then, he went over to room 4. Clear.

"We're good." He called.

Emily and Col took one room, and the guys took the other.

"Same shifts for watch, everybody. We'll bring food through soon." Freddie said.

"Emily."

"Emily."

Emily woke up, and looked up at the person waking her. It was Jason.

"We've got watch." He said.

"Okay." She said with a yawn.

She walked into room 5 behind Jason toward the ladder to the roof. They mounted the ladder, and climber up to the roof deck. As soon as she got up, she let out a gasp. She could see all of the sky from up here. There were a lot of stars in the sky that night, and they twinkled down on her like Christmas lights.

"It's awesome up here!" She said excitedly.

Jason smiled. "Yeah."

She turned to face him. "You okay?"

"I'm doing great. Thanks."

She stepped closer to him, so close that she could see the luminous green of his eyes. She stared into his eyes, and he stared right back. He bent down just a little and kissed her. Emily was shocked, but only for a second. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him back. They stopped and came apart, colored, and walked to opposite ends of the roof. At the end of the shift, Max came up to get them, and saw them at opposite ends of the roof.

"Shift's over." He said loudly, and they both jumped, and scurried for the ladder. Max walked onto the roof, a smile stretching over his face.


	17. Hinesville

Hey Everybody! That was a crazy chapter! I hope you like this one!

Ch 17 Hinesville

The very small convoy was back on the road at precisely 7:00 the next morning. This time, Hunter had Max and Jason in his car, while Freddie had Col and Emily.

Jason was pretty relieved at this seating arrangement because of what had happened the night before on the roof with Emily. That morning had been especially awkward when they were eating breakfast. Max had winked at him, and he started choking on the protein bar he was eating. Emily had turned a tomato color, and she had actually had to leave the room.

"We've got about a five-hour drive today." Hunter said. "We can get settled into Hinesville tonight!"

"Sounds good." Max said. He was beginning to return to his normal self; the whole Jason-Emily thing was definitely helping this process.

"When we get to Hinesville, we need to find somewhere to go as soon as possible." Freddie said. "We can check out the hospital tomorrow."

"That's awesome!" Col said.

"Okay." Emily said. Her heart was still pounding from the event on the roof the night before. Col had noticed that Emily wasn't talking to Jason as much, and she was pretty sure of what had happened during watch. She smiled a little, and her sister paled.

They were halfway through the day's drive when they saw the sign.

THE TOWN OF HINESVILLE HAS ISSUED A QUARANTINE.

PLEASE TURN BACK NOW.

Freddie stopped the van, and got out. The others followed his lead.

"What?" Hunter said. "This is really weird."

"Looks like we're gonna have to find another town." Jason said grimly.


	18. Backtrack

Hey everybody! That was sort of a cliffhanger/plot twist. I hope you liked it, and I hope you like this chapter!

Ch 18 Backtrack

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Max asked angrily.

"Backtrack." Emily said. "We need to find somewhere else to go. We also need somewhere to stay tonight."

"We could go back to the motel." Col suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Jason said quickly.

"Well, let's get off the highway first." Freddie said.

They loaded into the cars and turned around, now headed back north. After about ten minutes, they turned into a shopping mall. They exited their cars, and walked through the doorway. Most of the windows in the front were shattered, but only a few inside were shattered.

"I don't like this." Col said, uneasy.

Suddenly, from a shop beside them, came a BANG, then the sound of shuffling feet. Next came a moan. Then four more moans. Out of the broken shop window came five walkers. Hunter raised his shotgun, and pumped it.

"WAIT! They're attracted to sound!" Freddie whispered. He nodded to Max, who raised his machete and sliced off the head of the first walker. Freddie got the next with a small throwing knife to the brain. Emily stabbed the third one with her knife, and the fourth went to Col, who had a small hatchet.

"Gotcha." Max said to the crumpled body of the fifth walker, which he had sliced similarly to the first.

The five bodies lay crumpled on the ground. The group didn't stop to admire their handiwork.

They got back into their cars, and continued to head north. This time, they stopped at an isolated house. Jason scanned the perimeter, nodded the okay, and picked the lock. Then Max and Col checked the rooms. Nothing. They unloaded some of their supplies, wary of a situation like the one at the mall. Emily started dinner in the kitchen.

Hunter, Col, Jason, Max, and Freddie streamed into the kitchen. They all flopped down at the table. Freddie withdrew a map from his pocket. He spread it out over the table.

"I think we should try a different portion of Georgia this time." Col said.

"How about north of Atlanta?" Max said.

"Are there a lot of big houses there?" Emily asked. "Also, are the houses on a lot of land?

Everyone turned to face her.

"Why do you ask?" Freddie said.

"A bigger house is safe, plus more land means that we can see a longer distance." Emily said. "We could build watchtowers eventually."

She turned back to the soup she was heating, leaving the others to brood on what she had just said.

"That's actually a great idea." Jason said. "There might even be farms nearby. We could have cows or chickens."

"If it's an isolated house, it'll have its own generator." Max said.

"We'll have lots of space." Hunter said.

"It's far from hospitals, though." Freddie said.

"But all the good things outbalance that one not-so-good one." Col said. "What they're saying makes a lot of sense. Plus, if we truly need something, we do have two cars."

Freddie paused for a second. Everyone looked at him.

"Alright, we can go there." He said finally.

"Yay!" Col said. She got up and danced in circles.

"We're gonna have a house!"


	19. Lost

Hey everybody! I hope you like this chapter, I just realized that I never really put one character in this story, so that character will make an appearance ;). I hope you like it!

Ch 19 Lost

Jackson Carter woke up into blackness. He froze for a few minutes, trying to figure out where exactly he was, and where everyone else was. Then, he remembered.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" he yelled, reaching for the van's door.

"Sorry. We don't have any more room!" Freddie yelled back. His eyes looked like saucers.

"Please, no!" Jack screeched.

Freddie had turned around and shot out of the campsite. Jack was alone.

Jack swore, and then looked around for a moment, realizing something important. One of the cars still parked at the campground had the keys in the door. Jack ran over to that car, not caring that it was showered with bits of human flesh and buckets of blood, just as a walker had noticed that it still had someone to prey upon.

Jack was still fiddling with the door. The key was a little sticky (no pun intended) and it was difficult to unlock the door. After thirty more seconds, the door opened. Suddenly, he heard the groan of a walker. And it was close. He spun around, face to face with a walker. Just as it was reaching to tear out his throat, he stabbed it with the keys, right in the brain. It crumpled to the ground, and Jack wasted no time in climbing into the car and driving out of the campsite.

He turned left, away from the highway, and drove towards the north end of the city, taking back roads all the way. He knew that highways were a terrible idea; he had seen a congested road filled with cars and real, living people, honking and making noise. Then suddenly, from the city, there was a huge BOOM. Jack stopped the car and climbed onto the roof. Huge, fiery, yellow-and-orange clouds were erupting from downtown Atlanta. Napalm.

He had driven on a little further and found a convenience store. He walked in. Nobody was inside, so he cleared the shelves and refrigerators of what he needed. He walked back to his car, and drove for another hour or so. He saw a neon sign (it was a wonder it still worked) flashing brightly, exhibiting The Weekender Motel. He turned in, and went into the motel's office for a room key. He drove to room 3, unlocked the door, went in, checked and cleared it, closed and locked the door, and crashed on the bed. He slept for two days, only getting up to eat and use the bathroom.

On day three, he got up for good, feeling rested. He walked out to his car, a beat-up red sedan, and got in. That was the day he learned to shoot.


	20. Guns

Ch 20 Guns

On that third day, Jack drove into the small town that the motel was located near. He was relieved to see that there were only two walkers on the main street. He pulled into the main shopping center, which had a grocery store, a bargain shop, a comic book store, and a few clothing boutiques. Jack turned to look at the other side of the street, where there was a barbeque restaurant, a pawn shop, and the town's Sherriff's Office.

After he had taken out the two walkers with his knife, Jack stood up, pulling his knife from the walker's face, and walked towards the grocery store. A half hour later, he had enough canned goods to feed an army, some bread and crackers, a butcher's knife, bottled water, and matches and lighters. He got some clothes next; he was still wearing his ripped and bloody practice clothes. He walked out in jeans, a t-shirt, and boots. He drove to the other side of the street, and started with the pawn shop. He found a collection of knives, but more importantly, he found a hunting bow and arrows. He had been bow hunting many times with his father, so he was pretty good with a bow. He skipped the restaurant completely, and went to the Sherriff's Office. The door was unlocked, so he slipped inside with his new butcher's knife. He walked slowly through the halls until he found a door marked 'Firing Range'. Since his father was a cop, he knew some things about the layout of a police station. This door was locked, so he went to one of the deputy's desks and rummaged around for the key. After finding it, he walked back to the door, unlocked it, and walked slowly down the stairs. He walked past the hanging paper targets, peppered with bullet holes. He only had eyes for one thing, though. The gun chest.

It was a very small, almost closet-like space that had chain link fence instead of doors. It had been secured with a padlock, but it had been opened recently, so it was unlocked. Jack went inside and found a few rifles, one with a scope, a few pistols, and enough ammunition for a long time. He found a duffel bag and filled it with his finds. Next, he went over to the range. One of the targets was untouched, so Jack stepped up to that one. He pulled a Glock from the bag, and checked to make sure the safety was off. He put two hands on the gun, aimed, and fired one clip. He then checked the target. Most of the bullets had hit somewhere on the head, neck, or shoulders. He reloaded. It was time to try again.

An hour later, he walked out of the building, pleased with himself. He had made all of the shots to the head on his third try, so he was confident with his gun skills. He finished loading his car, now sagging under the weight of all the supplies, and drove back to the motel.


	21. North

Ch 21 North

"It'll take us about three days to get from where we are now to North Georgia." Freddie said. "Let's be rested up, so we can be aware on the whole trip. We can only travel during the day, and we can stop and collect supplies when we pass through towns."

"Got it." Col answered for the group.

Emily was finishing washing the dishes with the water they had brought from the well outside. Freddie, Jason, Hunter, Max, and Col were clustered around the table, debating about the towns on the map. Life seemed to be okay.

"First watch, Jason and Emily." Freddie said. They both colored instantly, but nodded. Max smiled to himself, thinking about their secret. They climbed the stairs to the attic, and opened the four square windows, and the one small round one. Emily took the left windows, while Jason took the right windows.

For about fifteen minutes, they sat in awkward silence, backs to each other. But then, Jason spun around and said "Sorry."

"For what?" Emily asked.

"For making things awkward between us." He answered.

"Between us? It's not awkward." Emily laughed. "It's only awkward to everyone else. So if we talk to each other when everyone else is around, they'll feel less awkward."

Jason got up and walked over to her.

"This is why I like you." He whispered, leaning in close to her for a kiss.

Back at the motel, Jack was sitting on his bed, thinking. Why had Freddie left him? There was plenty of room in the van, and everyone would have gladly been squished to avoid leaving one of their own behind. Maybe Freddie didn't like how he played. That was a very stupid reason, he realized. Being a good field hockey player didn't matter to the world now, he thought sadly.

Maybe, he thought, Freddie was telling the truth. Maybe there hadn't been any room in the van.

Jack knew, from that moment on, that he had to find his friends, because they were all that he had left in this crazy world.


	22. Food

Ch 22 Food

The next morning, all of the supplies were packed into the two cars. Max and Col were sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for Freddie to finish changing. Emily and Jason walked through the front door, both with smiles on their faces. They joined Col and Max at the table.

"Where's Hunter?" Col asked.

"He's starting the Excursion so it's not brutally hot." Jason said. "Do we know who's riding with who today?"

"Yeah. I'm taking Col and Emily." Hunter said, walking through the front door. "You and Max are going with Freddie, if he could hurry up."

They waited a little longer for Freddie, who walked out of his room, buckling his belt.

"Okay, let's get going." He said, walking towards the door.

"Took you long enough." Max muttered under his breath. Everyone but Freddie laughed.

Jack woke up on his bed not long after the rest of the group had left their camp. He yawned and stretched, then bent over to put his boots on. Today he was planning to drive south a bit, to see if he could find some more supplies, and find a different car.

He finished packing all of his supplies, car sagging under their weight. He turned the car on and pulled out of the motel.

"So when are we gonna stop?" Col asked.

"Whenever Freddie flashes his hazards." Hunter said.

They had been driving for four hours, and everyone was pretty hungry. They had already had to stop to move a group of cars out of the road. That had taken an hour.

"Look, aren't those his hazards?" Emily asked from the backseat.

"Yeah." Hunter said.

They turned into the parking lot of an office building. They parked their cars and looked around, checking for walkers. There were none in the parking lot, so Jason went ahead with Max to scout out the building. It only had three floors, luckily, or it would have taken hours to check. A half hour later, Jason poked his head out of the door and nodded the ok. The rest of the group turned off their cars, grabbed their weapons and bags of food, and ran into the building.

"I think we should go for the second floor." Jason said. "We'll be able to see anything coming from there."

They climbed two flights of stairs. The second floor was very open. It had a breakroom with tables and vending machines.

"Let's get the food out of the vending machines." Freddie said.

"Why don't we eat first?" Max said. "it makes more sense to do that right before we leave, in case it attracts attention from walkers.

"Okay." Freddie said, a little quieter.

An hour later, their arms were filled with food from the vending machines as they walked back to their cars.

Jack stopped to eat at about 2:00, in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. He had traveled from the north to about 50 miles south of Atlanta. He had found some more cans of food, and some medicine. He was still mulling over what Freddie had done to him. After he finished his canned beans and bread, he noticed a truck in the parking lot. The bed of the truck was covered. He walked over to it, praying that it was unlocked. Nope. He was going to have to pick the lock. He went to his car, opened the trunk and found what he was looking for: a crowbar.

He walked towards the truck, but then walked past it and threw the crowbar at the door, shattering it. A herd of walkers groaned inside, and moved towards the door, coming out one by one. Jack raised his pistol, shooting each one in the head. He reloaded, and shot a few more. When they stopped coming out of the restaurant, Jack walked over to the ones he had killed and searched their pockets for the keys to the truck. He found them on an obese walker with half of its face missing. Then, he loaded all of his supplies into the truck and drove away.


	23. Close

Ch 23 Close

"Where are we?" Max asked.

"We're about 50 miles south of Atlanta." Freddie responded. He flashed his hazards at Hunter and turned into the parking lot of the shopping center.

"There's a pharmacy here." Hunter said. "We can get some more medicine."

They exited their cars, weapons in hand, and walked towards the pharmacy. Freddie had one hand on the door handle. He turned around to address the group.

"We're looking for medicines, bandages, and rubbing alcohol." He said. "We don't really need much else."

"We always need as much of everything as we can get." Emily said firmly. "we never know when we're gonna get more of something."

Freddie nodded and opened the door. They flooded into the pharmacy, and they each took an aisle while Freddie supervised.

"I'll go see about pills." Col said.

She walked around to the back of the pharmacy where the pills were kept. Hopping over the counter, Col stared at the rows of bottles and boxes she had to go through. She started in the row labeled 'A'. Suddenly, she heard a rustle from row 'L'. She froze. Then, very slowly, she began to walk towards that row. When she got to row 'J', she heard the rustle again. She froze for a second time, then moved even more slowly to row 'L'. She stopped at the end of row 'K', her back pressed against the shelf. In one swift move, she spun to face whatever was in row 'L'. After looking for a second, she lowered her gun.

"Jack?"


End file.
